We searched databases for controlled clinical studies, and performed a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of yoga interventions on pain and associated disability. Five randomized studies reported ...single-blinding and had a higher methodological quality; 7 studies were randomized but not blinded and had moderate quality; and 4 nonrandomized studies had low quality. In 6 studies, yoga was used to treat patients with back pain; in 2 studies to treat rheumatoid arthritis; in 2 studies to treat patients with headache/migraine; and 6 studies enrolled individuals for other indications. All studies reported positive effects in favor of the yoga interventions. With respect to pain, a random effect meta-analysis estimated the overall treatment effect at SMD = -.74 (CI: -.97; -.52, P < .0001), and an overall treatment effect at SMD = -.79 (CI: -1.02; -.56, P < .0001) for pain-related disability. Despite some limitations, there is evidence that yoga may be useful for several pain-associated disorders. Moreover, there are hints that even short-term interventions might be effective. Nevertheless, large-scale further studies have to identify which patients may benefit from the respective interventions.
This meta-analysis suggests that yoga is a useful supplementary approach with moderate effect sizes on pain and associated disability.
There is evidence in the literature that voice characteristics are linked to mental and physical health. The aim of this explorative study was to determine associations between voice parameters ...measured by a voice range profile (VRP) and personality, mental and physical health.
Cross-sectional population-based study.
As part of the LIFE-Adult-Study, 2639 individuals aged 18-80 years, randomly sampled from the general population, completed both speaking and singing voice tasks and answered questionnaires on depression, anxiety, life satisfaction, personality and quality of life. The voice parameters used were fundamental frequency, sound pressure level, their ranges and maximum phonation time. The associations were examined with the help of correlation and regression analyses.
Wider ranges between the lowest and highest frequency, between the lowest and highest sound pressure level and longer maximum phonation time were significantly correlated with extraversion and quality of life in both sexes, as well as openness and agreeableness in women. Smaller ranges and shorter maximum phonation time were significantly correlated with depression. Neuroticism in men was inversely correlated with the maximum phonation time. In the speaking VRP, the associations for sound pressure level were more pronounced than for the fundamental frequency. The same was true in reverse for the singing VRP. Few associations were found for anxiety, life satisfaction and conscientiousness.
Weak associations between voice parameters derived from the VRP and mental and physical health, as well as personality were seen in this exploratory study. The results indicate that the VRP measurements in a clinical context are not significantly affected by these parameters and thus are a robust measurement method for voice parameters.
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of cross-linked hyaluronic acid on osteoblast-like cells seeded on top of two collagen substrates, native porcine pericardium membrane (substrate ...A) and ribose cross-linked collagen membranes (substrate B), in an air-lift model. Substrates A or B, saturated with three hyaluronic acid concentrations, served as membranes for SAOS-2 cells seeded on top. Cultivation followed for 7 and 14 days in the air-lift model. Controls used the same substrates without hyaluronic pre-treatment. Cells were harvested, and four (Runx2, BGLAP, IBSP, Cx43) different osteogenic differentiation markers were assessed by qPCR. Triplicated experiment outcomes were statistically analyzed (ANOVA, t-test; SPSS). Supplementary histologic analysis confirmed the cells’ vitality. After seven days, only few markers were overexpressed on both substrates. After 14 days, targeted genes were highly expressed on substrate A. The same substrate treated with 1:100 diluted xHyA disclosed statistically significant different expression level vs. substrate B (p = 0.032). Time (p = 0.0001), experimental condition as a function of time (p = 0.022), and substrate (p = 0.028) were statistically significant factors. Histological imaging demonstrated vitality and visualized nuclei. We conclude that the impact of hyaluronic acid resulted in a higher expression profile of SAOS-2 cells on substrate A compared to substrate B in an air-lift culture after two weeks.
Objective:
Mindfulness-based interventions are increasingly used in health, economic and educational systems. There are numerous studies demonstrating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based ...interventions in the educational sectors (primary, secondary, and tertiary). This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the current state of research on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on the academic performance of students as measured by their grade point average (GPA).
Methods:
Literature search was conducted in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PsycARTICLES, PubMed, and Google Scholar through March 2022. The inclusion criteria were: (1) the use of GPA as a measure of students’ academic performance, (2) a sample that was subjected to a mindfulness-based intervention without medical indication, (3) the student status of the subjects. Meta-analysis was conducted using a random effects model with the generic inverse variance method.
Results:
The search included a total of 759 studies, of which six randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. In these trials, significant group differences for GPA were found with effect sizes ranging from
d
= 0.16–1.62 yielding a significant overall effect of
d
= 0.42 (95% CI: 0.15–0.69) and a low magnitude of heterogeneity of
I
2
= 37%.
Discussion:
In conclusion, the first results of this emerging research field seem promising. However, the exact mechanisms of action are still unclear.
Mental disorders are most common causes of illness worldwide. Studies on art and drawing tasks, such as the tree-drawing test have already proven their prognostic quality for the diagnosis of ...Alzheimer's disease, depression or trauma. In the depiction of art in public space, gardens and landscapes are one of the oldest human forms of artistic expression. This study thus aims at exploring the impact of a landscape design task as a prognostic tool to detect mental burden.
A total of 15 individuals (eight female) aged between 19 and 60 years completed the Brief Symptom Inventory BSI-18 and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) before being asked to design a landscape in a 3 × 3 m squared area. Material to be used included plants, flowers, branches, and stones. The complete process of landscape design was videotaped and the tapes were analyzed in a two-step focus group analysis from a group of gardening trainees, psychology students and students of arts therapies. Results were condensed in a second step into major categories.
Scores of the BSI-18 showed a range of 2-21 points and STAI-S scores ranged between 29 and 54 points indicating a light to moderate mental burden. Focus group participants identified three mutually perpendicular major components associated with mental health: "Movement and Activity," "Material Selection and Design," and "Connectedness to the task." In a subsample of the three least and three most mentally stressed subjects (based on their GSI and STAI-S scorings), clear differences were found in body posture, action planning and the choice of material and aspects of design.
In addition to the well-known therapeutic potential of gardening, this study for the first time showed that gardening and landscape design contains diagnostic elements. Our preliminary findings are in coherence with similar research indicating a high association of movement and design patterns with mental burden. However, due to the pilot nature of the study, the results should be interpreted cautiously. Based on the findings further studies are currently planned.
Medical guidelines are an important basis for qualitative and cost-effective patient care. However, there is a lack of clinical recommendations in anthroposophic medicine (AM), an integrative ...medicine approach frequently practised in Europe. Acute tonsillitis, which includes tonsillopharyngitis, is a common childhood disease. that is mostly caused by a viral infection. Symptomatic treatment is therefore of high importance, and AM can offer several therapy options.
53 physicians from Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary with at least one year of experience in anthroposophic paediatric medicine were invited to participate in an online Delphi process. The process comprises five survey rounds starting with open-ended questions and ending with final statements, which need 75% agreement of experts to reach consensus. Expert answers were evaluated by two independent reviewers using MAXQDA and Excel.
Response rate was between 28% and 45%. The developed recommendation included 15 subtopics. These covered clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic and psychosocial aspects of acute tonsillitis. Six subtopics achieved a high consensus (>90%) and nine subtopics achieved consensus (75–90%).
The clinical recommendation for acute tonsillitis in children aims to simplify everyday patient care and provide decision-making support when considering and prescribing anthroposophic therapies. Moreover, the recommendation makes AM more transparent for physicians, parents, and maybe political stakeholders as well.
•First consensus-based anthroposophic therapy recommendation for treating acute tonsillitis in childhood.•Further information about clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic and psychosocial aspects of tonsillitis.•Successful implementation of an online Delphi process among anthroposophic paediatricians.•Consensus (>75%) was reached for all subitems of the recommendation.
Pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome, a stress-induced fibrotic matrix process, is the most common recognizable cause of open-angle glaucoma worldwide. The recent identification of PEX-associated gene ...variants uncovered the vitamin A metabolic pathway as a factor influencing the risk of disease. In this study, we analyzed the role of the retinoic acid (RA) signaling pathway in the PEX-associated matrix metabolism and evaluated its targeting as a potential candidate for an anti-fibrotic intervention. We provided evidence that decreased expression levels of RA pathway components and diminished RA signaling activity occur in an antagonistic crosstalk with TGF-β1/Smad signaling in ocular tissues and cells from PEX patients when compared with age-matched controls. Genetic and pharmacologic modes of RA pathway inhibition induced the expression and production of PEX-associated matrix components by disease-relevant cell culture models in vitro. Conversely, RA signaling pathway activation by natural and synthetic retinoids was able to suppress PEX-associated matrix production and formation of microfibrillar networks via antagonization of Smad-dependent TGF-β1 signaling. The findings indicate that deficient RA signaling in conjunction with hyperactivated TGF-β1/Smad signaling is a driver of PEX-associated fibrosis, and that restoration of RA signaling may be a promising strategy for anti-fibrotic intervention in patients with PEX syndrome and glaucoma.
In Europe, extracts from Viscum album (VA-E), the European white-berry mistletoe, are widely used to treat patients with cancer.
We searched several databases such as Cochrane, EMBASE, NCCAM, NLM, ...DIMDI, CAMbase, and Medline. Inclusion criteria were controlled clinical studies on parameters associated with survival in cancer patients treated with Iscador. Outcome data were extracted as they were given in the publication, and expressed as hazard ratios (HR), their logarithm, and the respective standard errors using standard formulas.
We found 49 publications on the clinical effects of Iscador usage on survival of cancer patients which met our criteria. Among them, 41 studies and strata provided enough data to extract hazard ratios (HR) and their standard errors (Iscador versus no extra treatment). The majority of studies reported positive effects in favour of the Iscador application. Heterogeneity of study results was moderate (I2 = 38.3%, p < 0.0001). The funnel plots were considerably skewed, indicating a publication bias, a notion which is corroborated by statistical means (AC = -1.3, CI: -1.9 to -0.6, p <= 0.0001). A random effect meta-analysis estimated the overall hazard ratio at HR = 0.59 (CI: 0.53 to 0.66, p < 0.0001). Randomized studies showed less effects than non-randomized studies (ratio of HRs: 1.24, CI: 0.79 to 1.92, p = 0.35), and matched-pair studies gave significantly better results than others (ratio of HRs: 0.33; CI: 0.17 to 0.65, p = 0.0012).
Pooled analysis of clinical studies suggests that adjuvant treatment of cancer patients with the mistletoe extract Iscador is associated with a better survival. Despite obvious limitations, and strong hints for a publication bias which limits the evidence found in this meta-analysis, one can not ignore the fact that studies with positive effects of VA-E on survival of cancer patients are accumulating. Future studies evaluating the effects of Iscador should focus on a transparent design and description of endpoints in order to provide greater insight into a treatment often being depreciated as ineffective, but highly valued by cancer patients.
Acute tonsillitis (including tonsillopharyngitis) in childhood is a common disease with a peak of illness in school-age. Most of these cases have a viral origin and antibiotic therapy is not ...indicated, therefore, effective symptomatic therapy is required. For this reason, complementary, alternative and integrative medicine therapies might be a solution.
The aim of this review is to demonstrate study status of such therapies.
The databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, OVID, CAMbase, CAM-QUEST® and Anthromedics were systematically screened for studies investigating complementary, alternative and integrative therapy approaches in paediatric cohorts. Studies were analyzed by therapy approach, study design, cohort and outcome, using the PRISMA 2020 checklist.
The systematic literature search resulted in 321 articles. Five publications corresponded to the search criteria and were assigned to the following specific therapeutic categories: herbal medicine (3), homeopathy (1) and ayurvedic medicine (1). Clinical trials were found for the herbal compounds BNO 1030 (Impupret®) and EPs® 7630 (Umckaloabo), the homeopathic complex Tonzolyt® and the ayurvedic medicine Kanchnara-Guggulu and Pratisarana of Tankana‑Madhu. Antimicrobial effects of essential oils and carvacrol as single agents as well as in combination with erythromycin were analysed in an in vitro study.
Clinical studies indicate an improvement of symptoms and a good tolerability of all investigated remedies of complementary, alternative and integrative medicine in the treatment of tonsillitis in childhood. Nevertheless, quality and quantity of the studies were insufficient to make a reliable conclusion regarding effectiveness. Therefore, more clinical trials are urgently needed to achieve a meaningful result.
•We provide an overview of integrative, complementary and alternative therapies for pediatric acute tonsillitis.•A comprehensive systematic literature search identified clinical studies for homeopathy, herbal and ayurvedic medicine.•Study results indicate promising effects.•Randomized controlled trials are rare.
The idea of artificially created social robots has a long tradition. Today, attitudes towards robots play a central role in the field of healthcare. Our research aimed to develop a scale to measure ...attitudes towards robots. The survey consisted of nine questions on attitudes towards robots, sociodemographic questions, the SWOP-K9, measuring self-efficacy, optimism, and pessimism, and the BFI-10, measuring personality dimensions. Structural relations between the items were detected using principal components analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation. Correlations and Analysis of Variance were used for external validation. In total, 214 participants (56.1% female, mean age: 30.8 ± 14.4 years) completed the survey. The PCA found two main components, "Robot as a helper and assistant" (RoHeA) and "Robot as an equal partner" (RoEqP), with four items each explaining 53.2% and 17.5% of the variance with a Cronbach's α of 0.915 and 0.768. In the personality traits, "Conscientiousness" correlated weakly with both subscales and "Extraversion" correlated with RoHeA, while none the subscales of the SWOP-K9 significantly correlated with RoEqP or RoHeA. Male participants scored significantly higher than female participants. Our survey yielded a stable and convergent two-factor instrument that exhibited convincing validity and complements other findings in the field. The ASRS can easily be used to describe attitudes towards social robots in human society. Further research, however, should be carried out to investigate the discriminant and convergent validity of the ASRS.
PDF
